California Wrongful Termination Lawyer

When you get a job in California, chances are your employment will be “at-will.” This generally means that your employer can terminate you for almost any reason - even one that seems frivolous - or no particular reason at all. However, employers are still prohibited from terminating you for reasons that violate the law or public policy.

If you believe you might have been wrongfully terminated, it’s important to discuss what happened with an experienced California employment attorney as soon as possible. The Eghbali Law Firm exclusively focuses on standing up for your rights as an employee in California, so please contact us at no cost today for help.

Reasons for Wrongful Termination

Some reasons that might constitute a wrongful termination include:

Discrimination - Your employer cannot fire you based on your sex, gender, race, age, disability, national origin, religion, or other protected factors

Harassment - Your supervisor cannot engage in quid pro quo harassment, which involves firing you for refusing to engage in sexual conduct

Retaliation - An employer cannot terminate your employment in retaliation for you exercising a legal right, such as complaining about employment violations

Public policy violations - Many reasons for termination violate public policy, including if you refused to engage in illegal behavior requested by your employer, or you participated in a legal obligation such as serving on a jury

Breach of an employment contract - If you did have an employment contract, it should state the reasons why you might be terminated before the contract is up, and a breach of that contract constitutes wrongful termination

You should always feel free to exercise your rights as an employee under California law, and you should not fear that doing so jeopardizes your job. The Eghbali Law Firm is ready to assist you if you believe your termination was wrongful.

What Counts as Wrongful Termination in California - and What Doesn't

California is an at-will state, which means an employer can fire you for a bad reason, a petty reason, or no reason at all. What it cannot do is fire you for an illegal reason. Wrongful termination is not about whether the firing was unfair; it is about whether it crossed one of the specific lines the law draws. Those lines are broader than most fired workers realize.

The firings the law forbids

Discrimination: termination because of race, sex, age over 40, disability, pregnancy, religion, national origin, sexual orientation, gender identity, or any other FEHA-protected characteristic. Retaliation: firing you for reporting harassment or discrimination, complaining about unpaid wages, reporting safety violations, whistleblowing under Labor Code section 1102.5, taking protected leave, or filing a workers' compensation claim. Public policy: the Tameny doctrine forbids firing you for refusing to break the law, for performing a legal duty like jury service, or for exercising a legal right. Contract: if you have an employment contract - written, oral, or implied through years of promises and practice - firing outside its terms is actionable even when no discrimination is involved.

What usually is not wrongful termination

Being fired for personality conflict, favoritism, an honest but wrong assessment of your work, or a restructuring that genuinely eliminates your role - these sting, but they are legal. The analysis changes the moment the "legitimate" reason is a cover story. That is called pretext, and it is where most real cases are won: the performance narrative that appears only after you announced a pregnancy, the "restructuring" that eliminated exactly one position - yours - two weeks after your harassment complaint.

How to spot pretext in your own firing

Look at timing (what protected thing happened shortly before?), comparison (were others with the same "problem" kept?), paper trail (did reviews turn negative only after you complained?), and shifting stories (HR says performance, the manager says budget, the unemployment response says misconduct). Write down the reason you were given on the day you were given it. Employers change stories; dated notes do not.

Deadlines - they differ by legal theory

FEHA discrimination and retaliation claims: three years to file with the Civil Rights Department, then one year to sue after a right-to-sue notice. Tameny public-policy claims: two years. Whistleblower claims under section 1102.5: three years. Federal EEOC: 300 days. Government employees: a six-month Government Claims Act notice for tort-based claims. Miss the shortest applicable clock and that theory is gone, so the safe move is to get advice within weeks of the firing, not months.

What a wrongful termination case can recover

Back pay from the firing to judgment, front pay where reinstatement is unrealistic, emotional distress damages, punitive damages against employers who acted with malice or conscious disregard, and attorney's fees under FEHA. California juries take these cases seriously - statewide, wrongful termination and retaliation verdicts regularly reach seven figures when the evidence of pretext is strong.

Fired today? Do these five things

Get the stated reason in writing or write it down yourself with the date. Don't sign a severance agreement on the spot - you are allowed time, and releases signed in the parking lot give up claims cheaply. Save what you legally can: offer letter, handbook, reviews, pay stubs, the termination letter. File for unemployment - a denial is not the end and the employer's stated reason there becomes evidence. And speak with an employment lawyer before the story hardens; early advice routinely changes outcomes.

Still unsure whether your firing qualifies? Start with what counts as wrongful termination in California - the dividing lines, with examples.